


once and future

by scully_carter



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur comes back, Dragons, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, au (mostly) within canonical bounds, i mean it's not really an au but then again it is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-06-04 06:51:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6646330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scully_carter/pseuds/scully_carter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Centuries after Arthur is laid to rest in Avalon, magic begins to return to Great Britain. Earthquakes shake the island, and magical creatures are woken from their slumbers and walk the Earth again. Worst of all, a wall of mist has risen up, with the entire island of Great Britain fading away into it. The government crumbles, and the people are in a panic. Arthur returns to unite the country (and clean up Merlin's mess) </p><p>Also, there's dragons. Because it simply isn't an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons. (J.R.R Tolkien)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted anything on here in ages so forgive spelling errors and such. Feedback is welcome (as are kudos) 
> 
> I didn't rate this since I don't yet know where I'm going with it but I will post language/violence/etc warnings in the notes

If there was one thing Merlin was good at, it was waiting. He'd had plenty of practice at that. Thousands of years of it, in fact.

Merlin didn't look old, but he felt it. His heart felt...heavy. Like all those centuries alone were dragging him down. Friends were something he couldn't have anymore, not when he knew that one day they'd wither and die, and he'd live on. Always alone.

Then the earth began to stir, and the dragons began to wake, bringing magic back with them. Merlin could feel it all around him, coursing through him like a raging current, giving him new vigour. But the dragons also brought the Mist.

At first no one noticed any of it. Then the Mist blanketed Great Britain. All the clocks stopped. Planes and boats that tried to leave the island were never seen again. Separated from the mainland, stranded, out of time. Everyone panicked, and the dragons that were roaming the island were certainly not helping the situation. The government was in shambles, and Merlin, even with all his magic, didn't have the power to unite all of Britain. Only one person could do that.

For the first time in thousands of years, Merlin felt hope.

_Arthur, I need you. We need you. It's time._

* * *

 

Merlin, normally such a cautious driver, drove faster than he ever had in his life. Already he was picturing the lake, with its calm, silvery surface, like a massive mirror reflecting the evening sky.

Like Merlin, the lake had remained.

He parked by the side of the road and took off running through the trees, hardly daring to hope...

He could see the waters of the lake through the trees, glittering in the golden glow of the setting sun. He didn't stop as he neared the shore, careening straight into the water before skidding to a halt, panting.

He stood there, knee-deep in the lake, cold water soaking through his trousers, counting the minutes silently, but nothing happened.

 _I was a fool to hope it was true._ Merlin thought bitterly, trudging back up the bank and flinging himself down on the grass, defeated. _Still...I was so sure..._ He sighed, leaned back against a tree, and closed his eyes, feeling more alone than he ever had.

_He was in Camelot again. Oh, what he wouldn't give to see this place just once more, with the sun shining and the castle banners flapping in the summer breeze high above the city._

_He passed through the castle gate, shoes scuffing on the rough cobblestones of the courtyard. Darting up the stairs, he dodged maids carrying loads of laundry and castle guards in their armour and bright red capes._

_He stepped into the torch-lit corridor that led to the King's chambers, his heart fluttering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He flung the doors open, stumbling inside._

_"Merlin? Where on earth have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" exclaimed a familiar voice, and Merlin almost sobbed as he looked into the blue eyes of Arthur Pendragon._

_"Merlin? Merlin!_ Merlin!"

Merlin jolted awake. The lake lay before him, the glassy surface of it reflecting the cloudless night sky. And standing in the middle of the lake, water dripping from his chainmail, was the man Merlin thought he'd never see again. He was shouting Merlin's name.

Merlin felt frozen. With slow, almost mechanical movements, he got to his feet.

"Arthur?" he whispered. Tears pricked his eyes. The spell was broken, and he broke into a flying run toward the lake, flinging himself at Arthur, latching on to him and _holding on_ , just in case he vanished again if Merlin were to let go.

"Arthur? You're here, you're alive! You're real!" Merlin gasped out, tears flowing freely down his face now. Indeed, Arthur felt very much alive and real under his hands, solid and warm, his pulse strong and steady under Merlin's fingers.

"Merlin." Arthur breathed, staring at him with wide eyes. Gently he reached up and wiped a tear from Merlin's cheek.

"Come on, let's--let's get out of the lake," Merlin said. Arthur was still staring at him like he'd never seen him before. Guided by Merlin's arm around his waist, Arthur stumbled forward on unsteady legs. They staggered onto the shore, dripping wet.

"Merlin...your eyes...you're different." Arthur said, sounding puzzled. "You...I died..." he continued. "I was dead. How long was I...?"

Merlin shook his head silently.

"How long, Merlin?" Arthur demanded, his voice low and dangerous. He stepped closer to Merlin, close enough that when Merlin breathed he was breathing in the scent of him--wet chainmail and the lavender soap Merlin used to use to wash Arthur's clothes and something woodsy-- "Thousands of years. I don't know exactly." Merlin replied softly. "Yes, you do know." Arthur snapped, but he didn't press farther. "I was dead." he said again. "But you--" "I was here." Merlin answered. "I was waiting." Arthur looked overwhelmed as he tried to process it all. "That means you're thousands of years old." "Looking pretty good on it, eh?" Merlin joked, spreading his arms. "You were...all alone. For millennia." Arthur said. Merlin shrugged. There was never anyone else but you. "So why now? Why am I here?" Arthur asked. When he looked at Merlin, he looked so confused, so lost, Merlin nearly started crying again. 

"Because the kingdom needs you, sire." Merlin said, stepping back and dipping a bow to his King.

Arthur scoffed, shaking his head. "No...Camelot is gone. Turned to dust. Dead. I'm not a king anymore, Merlin, not without a kingdom." he said. His tone was bitter, but he looked fragile, like something made of glass that was so delicate you thought it might shatter if you touched it.

"Not Camelot, Arthur. Britain." Merlin explained earnestly. "You will be King again."

Arthur dragged a hand through his damp blond hair. He didn't look so convinced.

"Everyone's dead." he said in a hollow whisper.

Merlin didn't reply. He missed them too--Gwen, Elyan, Leon, Percival, Gwaine, Gaius...the list went on.

"Except you." Arthur had fixed his intense blue stare on Merlin, and Merlin's breath caught in his chest as he looked into the King's eyes.

"Except me. You're stuck with me." Merlin said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Arthur returned the smile weakly.

"Merlin?" he asked. 

"Yes, my lord?" said Merlin, Arthur's noble title slipping easily off his tongue even though he hadn't addressed anyone as such in a very, very long time. 

"I'm almost glad it's you I'm stuck with." 

Merlin raised his eyebrows. "Almost?" 

There was a teasing gleam in Arthur's eyes as he said,"Yes. Even after thousands of years, you're still a clotpole." 

Merlin chuckled. He was glad, so glad, to have Arthur back, alive and well and with his sense of humour intact. 

"Well, I guess this means you're still a prat." he said. "Come on, Your Royal Prat-ness; let's go home."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god it's been longer than a month I'm SO sorry  
> anyway here's chapter two

Merlin's manor house in the English countryside wasn't the home either of them were thinking of, but it would have to do.

There was, however, the problem of getting there. Arthur had stopped short when he saw Merlin's car parked at the edge of the woods. "What kind of carriage is that? Where are the horses?" he'd demanded, frowning at the vehicle.

"It's...um..." Merlin stammered, unsure how to explain the existence of automobiles to someone who had been alive before electricity had existed. "It's a...magic carriage. It doesn't need horses. It's called an automobile."

Arthur still looked suspicious. "A automobile? It's magic? You made it?"

"No, no, not--not my kind of magic. There's this, um, fuel, that you...feed to it, and it makes it go. Much faster than a horse-drawn carriage."

"So it's alive? You have to feed it?" Arthur was looking more confused by the second. "No--" Merlin broke off, frustrated. "Just get in the carriage--er, car."

The engine grumbled to life, and Arthur tensed, looking wildly around. Merlin slid his hand over Arthur's where it rested on the dashboard. "It's okay," he soothed, trying to contain the bemused smile breaking over his face. "It's meant to make that noise."

He drove slowly, letting Arthur grow used to the sensation. Every so often, he'd look over at Arthur, his blond hair blowing around his chiseled face in the wind from the open window, armour-clad body wrapped in his red cloak and Exacilbur in its sheath resting across his knees, his blue eyes pensive, watching the countryside pass by them. "You okay?" he'd ask. Arthur would look at him, a ghost of a smile on his lips, and nod.

Merlin had to keep pinching himself. This was too good to be true. _This must all be a dream, and when I wake up, nothing will have changed._ But no, Arthur was real, he was really there, sitting in the seat beside Merlin, filling the car with the scent of lavender soap and lakewater, his hand warm and solid over Merlin's hand where it rested on the gearshift.

It was past 1 o'clock in the morning when he pulled into the driveway of his house.

"You live in a castle?" Arthur asked, squinting up at the looming shape of the manor.

Merlin laughed. "Not quite. Sorry. It won't quite be the accommodations you're used to."

Arthur followed him up the walkway, standing patiently, hand resting casually on the hilt of Exacalibur, until Merlin got the door unlocked. He looked very out of place in the modernly-furnished hallway in his armour and bright red cloak emblazoned with the Pendragon crest.

"Here, follow me." Merlin instructed, leading Arthur up the stairs to the guest room. Directing a hurried "Wait here," at Arthur, he darted back down the hall to his room to grab a spare pair of pajama bottoms.

Even after thousands of years, Merlin's fingers remembered the process of removing Arthur's armour, where every strap and buckle was and how one went about undoing them. He let the familiarity of the task lull him. When he'd finished, he handed Arthur the pajamas and set about preparing the bed, fluffing up the pillows, and wondering to himself why it was he'd missed this, but he had.

"All right. Um, goodnight then." Merlin said, stepping aside so Arthur could get into bed. The borrowed pajamas were too small on him--too short, and too tight around the hips. Merlin had make himself look away. He was halfway to the bedroom door when Arthur said, "Merlin..."

Merlin turned. "Yes, sire?"

"Would you...stay? Please?" Arthur asked hesitantly.

Merlin felt his face soften into a tender smile. "Of course, sire." He pulled up a chair beside the bed and sat at Arthur's side in the dark, listening as the King's breathing slowed, his chest rising and falling evenly as he drifted asleep. This was where Merlin belonged, with Arthur, watching over him, protecting him.

For the first time in millennia, he felt complete, his other half returned to him. 

* * *

That night Arthur dreamed. It wasn't the sort of dream he'd been having for the past few millennia. Those dreams were of nothingness and darkness at the bottom of a lake, floating through time, without body or purpose.

This dream was wind in his hair, the growl of the magic carriage--no, car--his fingers curled overtop Merlin's pale, slender ones, blue eyes looking into his, rapt and wonder-filled.

" _Arthur! You're here, you're alive! You're real!"_

When Arthur woke, the sun was pouring in through the window, illuminating a patch of the bedspread in a shining golden square. Arthur stretched his hand out to it, revelling in the feeling of the warm, glowing rays of sunlight dancing across his fingers. He hadn't seen sunlight since before his death. In that strange, dark place, without time or corporeal shape, he hadn't been sure if sunlight even existed anymore.

"Oh, good, you're awake." said Merlin, appearing in the doorway. Arthur as struck again, suddenly, by how...different this Merlin was from the one he remembered. His eyes had changed. They were older, somehow. Wiser. Sadder.   
  
"What?" Merlin asked, a furrow appearing between his brows. "What is it? Have I got something on my face?"

Arthur shook his head. "No. No, I was just...it's so different now. You're so different. I feel...a bit out of place, is all." he finally said, swinging his legs out of bed and scrubbing a hand over his face

"Well, maybe these will help." Merlin said, producing a pile of clothes seemingly from thin air.

"How did you...?" Arthur started to say, and then he remembered.

Magic.

It was still such an unnatural thing to him-that the one person he trusted the most possessed magic, which he'd tried so hard to eradicate in his days as King. Either Merlin was a better liar than he'd been led to believe, or he wasn't as clever as he'd thought. Neither of those options were very appealing. The thought that maybe he didn't know Merlin made him feel more lost than he already did in this strange new age. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tried a little bit of Arthur's POV for the ending there but I might end up writing more from Merlin's POV next chapter I haven't decided yet bear with me
> 
> I'm actually really sorry for not updating weekly like I said I would  
> I wanna say you can expect more frequent updates from now on?? but writers block and school and stuff gets in the way like it did this chapter so I can't make any promises
> 
> so um thanks for reading! and I appreciate feedback/kudos (thanks to anyone who's left kudos already) and if there's anything you might wanna see in the next few chapters maybe give me some ideas?? idk

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I know there are probably a bunch of these kinds of fics already in existence, but I couldn't resist trying my hand at writing this.
> 
> I will try to keep updating weekly, but I can't make any promises since school and other activities tend to interrupt my writing schedule.


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